Mail-bag-transferring mechanism.



J. T. CAMPBELL.

MAIL BAG TRANSFERRING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FlLED NOV-3.19!!- 1 ,27 3,57 5. Patented July 23, 1918.

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INVENTOR ATTORNEY J. T. CAMPBELL.

MAILBAG TRANSFERRING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 3. 19H- 1 373,575. Patented July 23,1918.

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WITNESSES TOR gm raw/ m ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT onnica.

JOHN T. CAMPBELL, OF RICHMOND, INDIANA.

MAIL-BAG-TRANSFERRING MECHANISM.

Application filed November 3, 1917.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN T. CAMPBELL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Richmond, in the county of Wayne and State of Indiana, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Bag- TransferringMeehanisimof which the following is a specification.

This invention relates generally to mail bag transferring mechanism, andhas for its primary object to simplify and improve the construction andoperation of devices of this character, as well as to increase theirefficiency.

A further object of the invention is to provide a transferring device bythe use of which mail pouches may be transferred from a stationary trainto a moving car and from a moving car to a stationary holder with butsmall possibility of the bags or their contents becoming damaged ordestroyed.

Still further objects reside in providing a transferring mechanism ofthe type mentioned which shall be of extremely simple and inexpensiveconstruction, which involves but a slight departure from the mechanismsnow in use for the same purpose, which is wholly automatic in itsinterchanging operations, which requires no attention after once beingset, which has its parts so constructed and arranged as to minimize theopportunity for wear or breakage, and which will prove highly practicaland eflicient in use.

With these objects in view, together with others which will appear asthe description proceeds, the invention resides in the novel formation,combination, and arrangements of parts, all as will be described morefully hereinafter, illustrated in the drawings, and particularly pointedout in the claims.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a sectional plan view taken through aconventional form of railway mail car, and illustrating the mechanismboth upon the car and beside the track by the use of which theinterchanging of mail bags is carried out,

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a railway mail car equipped with amechanism of my invention,

Fig. 3 is an elevation, parts broken away, of the stationary bagreceiving device, and

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 23, 1918.

Serial No. 200,146.

Fig. 4: is a sectional view taken upon line 4l1 of Fig. 1.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, 5 indicates aconventional form of railway mail car, having the vertically disposedposts 6 defining the edges of the door therein. Projecting outwardlyfrom the exterior of the car adjacent the edges of the doorway arebearings 7, the same being in horizontal alinement. These bearingssupport the extremities of the catcher arm supporting bar 8, and thelatter is adapted to be easily removed from the said supporting bearing.The catcher or grabber which is supported by the bar 8 is of theordinary construction, and includes the outwardly and forwardlyextending arm 10 having a loop portion 11 at its juncture with the saidbar, and within which bags received by the arm are adapted to rest. Tohold the bags against becoming lost from the grabber arm after oncebecoming engaged thereby, a lever 12 is pivoted as at 13 to the armsupport, and a spring 14 normally holds the said lever across the openend of the loop 11. It is obvious, therefore, that when a bag is engagedby the arm 10, the same will move inwardly and will snap past the lever12, and the latter will hold the ba from becoming disengaged from thegra ber arm. The grabber mechanism may be provided with the usualoperating hand grip 14', which is grasped by the mail clerk Within thecar to properly position and hold the catcher arm so as to engage a bagsupported on a suitable crane beside the track. The bar 8 and thegrabber mechanism carried thereby may be readily disengaged from thesupporting plates 7 so as to enable the same to be reversed upon thecar.

Secured in spaced relation and in vertical alinement to the car 5 andpreferably to the vertical posts 6 defining the door opening arebrackets 15. These brackets are adapted to rotatably'support the ends ofa detachable crane pintle or rod 16, which is provided with right.angularly disposed arms 17. The arms 17 are adapted to support betweenthem a mail pouch for delivery to a station, and are of such length thatthe bag supported thereby will be held an appreciable distance beyondthe side of the mail car. This car crane is capable of swinging towardor away from the door way and the side of the car, to facilitate theapplication of mail bags to the device, and may also be readily removedfrom the brackets upon the car and positioned upon either side of thecar or either side of the door way.

The mechanism which is'to be arranged beside the track for the purposeof taking j bags'supported upon the car by the arms 17, includes ahorizontally disposed supporting bar or rod 18, the latter being rigidlysupported by the spaced posts 19.

Mounted for sliding movement upon the bar or rod 18 is a sleeve 20,having a grabber arm 21 extending outwardly from one side thereof. Thegrabber arm 21 is bent adjacent its juncture with the sleeve, so as toprovide a loop 22, similar to the'loop 11 in the mail car grabber arm,for the purpose 7 of receiving and retaining mail bags. T

securely hold the mailbags within the loop 2 2 and also to hold thesleeve 20 against sliding movement uponthe support 18 is a lever 23, thelatter beingpivoted to one end of-the sleeve; as at2 l. One end of thislever, designated at 25, normally extends across theopen end of the loop22, while the short end 26 of the lever is adapted to engage the bar orsupport 18 to firmly hold the sleeve 20 againstfsliding V movementthereon, A spring 27 normally holds the lever in bag retaining and barengaging pooperative position. When the sleeve 20 is moved rearwardlyupon the support 18 until the pin 28is withdrawn from the aperture inthe post,'the weight of the arm 21 and abag or bags held thereby willcause the sleeve to rotate so that the said grabber arm will be disposeddownwardly and in inoperative position.

' In order that .ing movement of the'sleeve 20 may be the vlolentrearward slid-' cushioned, the rod 18 at its rear endis encircled by anexpansion spring 29, the said springbearingat its rear end against oneof the supporting posts for the said bar.

.A collar 30 is held by the forward end of the spring 29, and againstwhich the rear endof the sleeve 20 engages. It is obvious,

therefore, that when the grabber arm 21 has delivered thereto a mail bagfrom a fast moving train, the rearward movement of the grabber mechanismwill be gradually checked by the spring mechanism.

As it is the purpose of the invention to provide for mail bags beingtaken from trains moving in either direction upon the tracks,.two of thegrabber arm mechanisms above described are provided, both being ofidentical construction but facing and operating from difierentdirections.

The crane beside the track for properly holding bags to be transferredto the movmg car may be of conventlonal form, and 1s lllustrated 1nF1g.. a of the draw ngs.

This crane comprises a pair of spaced out wardly extending crane arms31, supporting betweenthem at their outer ends a bag indicated at 3 2and are of such length as to hold the bag in the path of travel of thegrabber arm 10 upon the car when the said arm is swung outwardly tocatching position. i i

' Whenit is desired to causethe transfer ofmail bags from a car to astation beside the track, and vice versa, the crane upon the carispositioned in the brackets 15 in the rear of the grabber arm 10therein. The bag to be delivered to the station beside the track is thensecured between the arms 17 of the car crane, whereupon the latter isswung outwardly, as shown in .Fig. 1. The bag to be transferred from thestationary mechanism to the moving car is in a like manner "interposedbetween the arms 31 and the stationary crane. The sleeve 20 is thenmoved forwardly upon the arm 18, and is rotated so that the pin 28thereon will venter the aperture in the post 19. By so positioning thesleeve, the grabber arm 21 will be extendedtoward the track or inoperative position, and the pin 28 will hold the sleeve 20 againstrotation. 'As the mail car approaches the station, the clerk, by

means of the handle 14, swings. the catcher arm 10 outwardly, so as tograb the bagf32 held by the. crane arm 31. The bagheld by the outwardlyprojectingarms' 17 of the car crane will be engaged by the outwardly andforwardly projecting arm 21, and the-said bag will enter the loopportion 22, of the said catching mechanism. The inward. movement of thebag will cause the lever 25 to open, permitting the bag to enter theloop portion, opening movement of the lever, the,;catch arm 26 ofthe'leve'r will .release the. sleeve 20. The sleeve will at once moverearwardly upon the support. 18, and will be checked in this movement bythe spring 29 at the rear end of the, support. The sup,-

port 18 may be ofany preferred length.

and simultaneously with this The bag-32 will be engaged ty he gr ber 7arm 10 upon the crane, and, by means of the lever 12, will be heldagainstbecoming lost for mail pouches which involves but a very slightdeparture from mechanisms of a similar nature now in use, but which willgreatly facilitate the interchange of mail bags. It Will be impossiblefor the mail pouches being dropped from their grabber arm to becomedamaged or destroyed, and the bag delivered from the moving train doesnot touch the ground.

l/Vhile the present is a disclosure of What is believed to be thepreferred embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that theinvention is not limited thereto, but that various changes in the minordetails of construction, proportion, and arrangement of parts may beresorted to if desired without departing from the spirit of theinvention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim 1. In a mail transferrin device, a horizontal rod, a sleeveslidably mounted on said rod, a grabber arm secured to said sleeve, alever pivoted inwardly from its ends to said sleeve, a spring fornormally holding one end of said lever between said sleeve and said armand for holding the opposite end of said lever frictionally en gagedwith said rod.

2. In a mail transferrin device, a horizontal rod, a sleeve slida lymounted on said rod, an arm secured at one end to said sleeve and havinga loop portion adjacent its juncture with the said sleeve, a leverpivoted inwardly from one end to said sleeve, a spring on said sleeveyieldably holding one end of said lever disposed across said 100pportion, and the other end of said leger being irictionally engaged withsaid ro In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

JOHN T. CAMPBELL. Witnesses:

ALBERT BROWN, S. R. DOLAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.

